Page 73 of Brutal Bratva King

“No, Anya. I’ve known you for far too long. I know when you are lying to me. Is it Rodion?” he glances at Raisa and then back at me. Raisa is biting her lip, she made a promise, and she can’t break it. “Anya—did Rodion do something? Is he being nasty or treating you badly?” Oleg is working himself up more and more the longer I say nothing—but I don’t know what to say.

I stutter and no words come out.

Oleg’s eyes darken.

“I will deal with him. We aren’t leaving until he gets home. I will not ignore that asshole treating my sister badly. He is going to have to face me and probably every single one of your other brothers, too. I don’t care if you’re married—you are still our sister—“

“Oleg, stop!” I shout, completely overwhelmed by his outburst.

He shakes his head, he is pacing up and down the living room.

Raisa looks stressed. She has her hand resting on her stomach.

My secret is going to cause huge issues and the last thing I want is for Oleg to confront Rodion when Rodion has no idea what’s even going on.

“Anya?” Raisa whispers.

I sigh, pressing my hands against my eyes to try and stop the flow of tears.

“Anya?” Oleg demands, noticing something going on between Raisa and I.

“I’m pregnant, Oleg,” I sigh, barely whispering my confession to him. I’m completely drained already and now I have to face my brother. It’s too much.

“What?” he sounds shocked. “Pregnant? I don’t understand—why—what’s the matter?”

“She hasn’t told Rodion yet,” Raisa says, noticing that I can’t speak right now. My throat is too tight, the air is too thick. The room is too hot.

Oleg calms down and takes a seat opposite me. “Why hasn’t she told him?” he asks Raisa.

“Anya?” she asks. I nod. She can explain it to him. I’m too tired.

“She hasn’t told him because she’s worried that all he really wanted from her was an heir. That once he knows she’s pregnant, he will treat her differently. I told her it’s not going to happen. My brother—he’s not like that. He’s stern and can be controlling and abrupt—but he will be so happy to hear this news.”

For a long moment there is silence hanging in the living room. I remain quiet, keeping my face down. I hate this. I hate feeling this way. I’m so stressed about everything.

I can feel their eyes on me. Taking a deep breath, I look up at my brother. “Please don’t tell him. Please promise me you won’t say anything.”

He clenches his jaw, looking from me to Raisa. He doesn’t like this at all.

“Oleg, please,” I ask again, seeing how conflicted he is over this.

“I won’t say anything. I promise. But Anya—keeping secrets isn’t going to solve the things that are worrying you. Trust me when I say that if you just talk to the person—you might be pleasantly surprised to find out that all of your concern was for nothing.” He speaks gentle, as though he learned from his own mistakes and he just wants me to avoid making the same ones.

Oleg smiles towards Raisa. I know he’s referring to things that happened between them in the past. They didn’t exactly have the smoothest start to their relationship and things worked out perfectly for them. I mean, he kidnapped her. She really didn’t like him in the beginning. Their love story is beautiful, though—through everything, they obviously worked it all out, so there is hope that maybe I can do the same with Rodion. Isn't there? Should I even wish for that or am I just going to be breaking my own heart?

Is it possible that my love story might turn out as good as theirs?

Raisa and Oleg stay late into the evening, both not wanting to leave me alone in the state I’m in despite me telling them to leave. I need time alone. I appreciate them being here for me—but I want them to go. Also, I would like for them to be gone already by the time Rodion gets home.

But Oleg is worried about me. He’s my brother, I can expect nothing else.

They stay until Rodion arrives home and when he walks in and sees all of us sitting in the living room, he looks happy. But I’m rigid with anxiety. All I can think over and over is ‘Please don’t tell him. Please don’t tell him.’

I breathe a massive sigh of relief when they stand up to say goodbye, neither of them breaking their promise to me.

Rodion and I stand at the front door, waving them off.

He holds me close to his side, his hand wrapped around my waist.

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